Log turner



14, 1945. J. A. WEBER LOG TURNER Filed June 22, 1945 Q iJI WIm do/m A, Web?! INVENTOR. y

Patented Aug, 14, 1945 UNITED STATES PPATENT OFFlC-E ".LOG

TURNER John A; Weber, Portland, Oregz; Sassignor to John T; Anderson Application June 22 Portland,*reg.

, 1943, :SerialNo: 491,815

aims. (0111432 This invention relates to log turners candwthe primary object of the invention is toprovide a simple and powerful turner that cambe operated by motor or by' hydraulic means.

A-further object of the invention is to-p'rovide- 1 i having: myi'new. and improved log turner mounted thereon.

' Figure 2 is afragmentary plan view; taken on line 2.-'-2' of Figure 1, oftheflo'gfturner camarm relative to the operating cam.

nism fondisengaging the driverfrom the 'cam'operating rack.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary'elevatiori of the cam return mechanism, taken on line 4 -'-"4 of Figure 1. Figure is a fragmentary-flview ofzFi'gure 1, showing the log turner "arm in downrposition.

In the drawing: 1 :The sawmill carriage. of well-known type, is

:indicated at I, mounted upontrackssrran'd' wheels 3'. My invention consists of parallel crossframes 4aarrd r5'afixed to the saw mm: beams 6,.by'kany suitablemeans, as by bolting. A cam arm 1 is pivotally mounted on the shaft .8 "located" at the outer ends of. the frames 4 and 5 andhavingits upper. surface 9 in a plane with the upper surfaces i H! of .the frames Aand 5; as illustrated in'Figr. ure 5.

The cam surface I I of the cam arm 'l'rests-upon the cam roller l 2, which is journaled to the outer end of the rack l3 by the cross piri I4. :The outer end of the rack is supported upon-the'cam rollers i l5rand l6, travellingrupon the' cam-surfaces' I! of the parallelframes 4 and i -The rack I3 is operated by the pinion 18; the pinion l8 -which is keyed to the countershaft I9. shaft has a sprocket 20 keyed thereto, which is driven by the sprocket 2| of the countershaft 22 through the chain 23.

The countershaft 22 forms part of a clutch assembly 24, which is not here shown in detail, but

is of any suitable standard mechanism. A motor 25 is mounted on the carriage and drives the clutch assembly 24 through the spr0cket 26 and chain 21. The teeth ISA of the rack I3 are maintained in working engagement with the pin- The counter ion lfl'by: the'piyotally 'mountedarm- 28.. Aroller 29 is fl journaledzwithin the arm 28 and supports heuundersurface ilil'ofithev rack I3. The'arm ZB extendsonteitheriside of the rack at 3| andmainota'ins theosame inalignment with the pinion l8. :In the'hperation of my: new and improveddog urner, 1a control cable 32p'ositions the arm 28 in arverticalf position asillustrated in Figure 1,'-engagingmthe rack l'3' withlthe pinion. l8; The

L1 10'tclutch'mechanismwithin the housing 24 is then operated to engaged position driving the sprocket l8 inth'e direction of -thearrows, and'operating r f the rack I3 to the positiongshown in Figure 1 and I beyondiforcingrthe cam roller l2'along the sur- [lei-face H 1 (ifthecam' arm 1; at the same time the nzcamtrollers t5"are' riding"up along the'cam surface t1 of-the framework 4 and 5.

i -'"1h'e'am'0unt of travel will depend onhowilong .therarm 28 is allowed t'o'remain in a vertical Figure 3 is 'a fragmentary view oftthe mecha :position or athe'len'gth of time that-the clutch mechanism 24 is iengaged. "Under normal auto- 2 matic operation-a chain or cable 33 is fixedly secured at 34 to the raclr-and to the loweren'd 35 of'the armi281 When'the rack is'extended suffifivcient distance ithis:chain'will pull the arm 28 to the position shown in Figure 3, allowing the *rack r l23= to? betdisengage'd' .from'the driving pinion IB.

{ Areturnimechanism is indicated inFigure 4,

- wherein :a spring :36; has; one of its ends: anchored to*thesupporting'bracket 31 at 38', and its oppositeend to the hub 39 at 40.; 'Adrum 4| is fixedly .1S8C11!'ed torthahub 39-and has a strap 42.fixedly -11 secured thereto atzitsone' end, having its oppositerend fixedly secured to the rack at.43. As the fi rack I 3 is-driven' outward operatingthe 'cam arm I mthe strap" 42' will :load the spring 36. "When the :wrack is 'released 'from the pinion l8 the strap 42 will be woundabout-thedrum 4| by the spring 36, returning 'the'. rack to the positionshown in nFigure 1'; ready5for-another"cycle of operation.

I :Inathe' event it isrfdesired torelease the rack ifrom the pinion: lflabefore .theirackiha reached s: itsrfull outwardetravel, a handoperated cable 44 is providediwhich' will 'throwzthe-lever 28 to the lofftposiiiion as sh'own in Figure 3. It will benoted that when the rack I3 is first'brought into action along the cam surface H of the cam arm I tremendous lifting power will be exerted, and after the rack progesses along the cam surfaces this lifting power will be somewhat reduced and transferred into a quick acting movement, which will turn the log rapidly. on the latter part of the stroke and where less power is required to move the same. This is an outstanding feature of my invention.

The cam arm 1 can be operated by substituting a hydraulic cylinder in the place of the rack and pinion mechanism.

I do not wish to be limited to the exact mechanical construction as illustrated, as other mechanical equivalents may be substituted, still coming within the scope of my claims.

What I claim is:

1. Alog turner,a-turning ,bar,,.a rack bar to operate theturning bar, a power driven pinion to operate the rack bar, an element movable to provide for cooperating engagement or disengagement of the rack bar and pinion, means for operating said element at will to compel engage ment between the rack bar and pinion, and means actuated solely in the movement of the rack bar for automatically operating said element to provide for disconnection between the rack bar and pinion following predetermined movement of the rack bar.

2. A log turner, a turning'bar, a rack bar to operate the turning bar, a power driven pinion to operate the rack bar, anelement movable to provide for cooperating engagement or disengagement of the rack bar and pinion, means for operating said element at will to compel engagement between the rack bar and pinion, and means actuated solely in the movement of the rack bar operated by the rack bar for automatically operating said element to provide for disconnection between the rack bar'and pinion following predetermined movement of the rack bar.

3.,A log turner, a turning bar,- a rack bar to operate the turning bar, a power driven pinion to operate the rack bar, an element movable to provide for cooperating engagement or disengagement of the rack bar and pinion, meansfor operating said element at will'to-compel engagement between the rack bar and pinion, means actuated solely in the movement'of the rack bar for automatically operating said element to provide for disconnection betweenxthe rack bar and pinion following predetermined movement of the rack bar, and means for manually operating the element at will to disconnect the rack bar and pinion.

4. A log turner, a turning bar, a rack bar to operate the turning bar, a power driven pinion to operate the rack bar, an element movable to provide for cooperating. engagement or disengage- 7 ment of the rack bar and pinion, means for operating said element at will to compel engagement between the rack bar and pinion, means for automatically operating said element to provide for disconnection between the rack bar and pinion following predetermined movement of the rack bar, and means for automatically reversing movement of the rack bar following'a predetermined operative movement thereof.

5. A log turner including a frame, a log turning lever pivoted in such frame, an inclined track at one side of the lever, a rack bar movable on said trackway into contact with and for operating the lever,'a power driven pinion normally out of cooperation with the rack bar, an element movable to cause the rack bar to engage or disengage the pinion, and a, connection between the rack bar and element to move the latter to provide for disengagement of the rack bar and pinion following a predetermined movement of the rack bar.

'6. A log turner including a frame, a log tuming lever pivoted in such frame, an inclined track at one side of the lever, a rack bar movable on said trackway into contact. with and for operating the lever, a power driven pinion normally out of cooperation with the rack bar, an element ing lever pivoted in such frame, an inclined track at one side of the lever, a rack bar movable on said trackway into contact with and for operating the lever, a power driven pinion normally out of cooperation with the rack bar, an element l movable to cause the rack bar to engage or disengage the pinion, and a connection between the rack bar and element to move the latter to provide for disengagement of the rack bar and pinion following a predetermined movement of the rack bar, and manually operable means to control the position of the element at will.

8. 'A log turner including a turning bar, a rack bar to operate the turning bar, a power driven pinion to operate the rack bar, an element movable into one position to move the rack bar in operative cooperation with the pinion or into another position to release the rack bar from such cooperation, manually operable means for moving the element selectively to either position, and a connection between the rack bar and element to cause the rack bar following a predetermined movement by the pinion to move the element to a position to provide for the disconnection of the rack bar and pinion.

9. A log turner including a turning bar, a rack bar to operate the turning bar, a power driven pinion to operate the rack bar, an element movable into one position to move the rack bar in operative cooperation with the pinion or into another position to release the rack bar from such cooperation, manually operable means for moving the element selectively to either position, and

a connection between the rack bar and element to cause the rack bar following a predetermined movement by the pinion to move the element to a position to provide for the disconnection of the JOHN A. WEBER. 

